Encounter
by Wind's Gale
Summary: Zaheer escapes his prison soon after Kuvira's defeat. Korra goes to confront him but it leaves her with too many questions. Written for the bonus round in the Pro-bending Circuit.


_A/N: Prompts: Easy-Magenta, Medium-Sweaty Socks, Hard-Air Temple Island. Element: Air and Earth. Word count: 2,282_

* * *

The worst was over. At least, Korra hoped so. She defeated a power-crazed blood bender, defeated Vaatu and restored the spirit portals so that spirits and humans could live in harmony, stopped the Red Lotus from throwing the world into chaos, and stopped a dictator from ruling the entire Earth Kingdom and Republic City with an abusive iron fist. She went through so much trauma and stress in just a few short years but in the end, she came out on top and as stronger than she was before.

But it wasn't her physical strength that made her so strong. It was mental strength she gained going through so much mental anguish and trauma after everything she's been through. She had a new view on the world and new profound wisdom that she hoped to expand as she grew older. Despite the new growth, the battle with Zaheer lingered in her mind. She stopped being afraid of him, sure. She could think about it without feeling like she was going to panic but it replayed in her head at various times. She couldn't control it, so she let it play. It was disturbing but she knew she couldn't do anything about it. It would happen. She would remember her battle scars, but as long as she didn't have to deal with Zaheer again, she knew she'd be alright.

"I know it's been a while since you've seen your room but I just want to warn you about something." Tenzin said as he lead Korra to her old room from her days when she stayed on Air Temple Island, training to become a master air bender.

"Why? What's wrong with it?" Korra asked. Before he could say anything, she opened the door. She stood in the door way, taken back by what she saw. "What is this?"

"The kids had a little…accident with one of Varrick's experimental dying powders."

"But…it's all magenta. _Everything. _Even the lamp!"

The entire room was colored magenta. The bed, the armoire, the curtains, window, carpet, ceiling, walls and floor. Anything she could see was colored. It was a little sickening to look at.

"Unfortunately, your room wasn't the only room and we've yet to figure out how to get rid of the coloring. Pema tried scrubbing and washing everything she could but nothing worked. We're currently waiting for Varrick to create a solution but every time we ask him about it, he avoids the question."

"Sounds like Varrick." She cautiously stepped into the room. "Is it safe to sleep in the bed? I don't want my skin itching or anything."

"Honestly, I don't know. We haven't had time to buy new sheets and a blanket, so you'll have to rough it out for the night."

"This'll be interesting if I wake up magenta."

She didn't expect the bed to be as comfortable as it was before. Not with the dye on it. It was making her skin itchy and uncomfortable. She swore bumps were starting to form on her arms. Not to mention, the bed had a noticeable odor about it. It smelled like Meelo's sweaty socks. He must have been playing in her room during her absence. With magenta everywhere, the itching, and the constant feeling that she was in a gym locker room surrounded by sweaty socks, the room was sickening to her. Sighing, she jumped out of bed and made her way towards the door. Maybe she'd have better luck sleeping on Naga.

It was still early in the night but the area was still quiet. The air acolytes liked to sleep early and rise early. All the better for Korra. She felt like she needed a little time to herself to meditate. She had originally went looking for Naga, but she ended up at the White Lotus quarters. Instead of sleeping, she decided to try her luck at listening to the radio. She didn't expect anything good to be on but it had been a long time since she had been able to relax and listen.

While she fumbled with finding a decent station, despite the lack of stations to listen to, she heard large footsteps behind her and the unmistakable sound of Naga's tail wagging behind.

"Hey girl, I was looking for you earlier." She said as she finally decided on what to listen to. She and Naga laid down, with Korra leaning against her polar bear-dog's large stomach. It felt good to be able to relax for once with everything said and done. She knew, eventually, another villain or crisis will arise so once in a while, she was going to take an opportunity to relax and have fun. It wasn't long before she fell asleep, listening to the music, late night news, and random commercials. Judging by the breathing of Naga, she had fallen asleep as well.

Something had interrupted her sleep, though. The radio had stopped and then loud talking came through. Korra's dazed eyes slowly opened. It took her a minute to realize it was an emergency broadcast coming through. "What's going on?"

"_You heard right folks. I repeat, it has been confirmed that Zaheer has escaped his prison. Everyone is advised to stay inside, lock their doors, and notify the police of any strange or suspicious activities going on. There have been reports of a flying object heading towards Republic City. Police believe it to be Zaheer. It is not clear yet if he broke himself out or if he had help. An investigation is still ongoing." _

Korra turned the radio off, looking around to see if there were anybody nearby that could have heard the broadcast. If she had heard such a broadcast last year, she would have been terrified. She came too far to run from him now. It wasn't even a week since Kuvira's defeat and she already had to stop another bad guy.

"I'll be back." She told Naga's sleeping form before running off.

* * *

"Where are you, Korra?" Tenzin asked as he ran around Air Temple Island. The only sign of her was her sleeping Naga, who seemed unfazed by the entire situation. Tenzin received a call not 5 minutes ago about Zaheer escaping and now he was worried sick about Korra. The worst scenarios ran through his mind. Did she run off? Did Zaheer infiltrate the island and capture her? He didn't even want to think about what Zaheer would do to her if he got his hands on her again.

"This is useless. I need to wake up everyone and call Lin." He said to himself.

"Tenzin!" He heard Pema call him. He turned around to see her running after him with a paper in her hand. "I found this note. Zaheer didn't capture her. She's going to capture him."

"What?! She can't face Zaheer on her own. I have to find her before she gets hurt. I can't live through that again."

"Tenzin.." Pema started.

"Stay here and tell everyone what's going on. Please keep yourself safe."

_Meanwhile_

Korra glided through the air on her air glider. She had set off to find Zaheer but she had no idea where to start. He could be anywhere. Then a thought clicked in her head.

'_Of course. I just need to find some spirit vines.' _She thought to herself. She should have thought of it earlier before spending half an hour flying past Republic City, but maybe she didn't want to find Zaheer. He'd find her eventually though.

She descended down into a forest 20 miles from his prison. She could see spirits glowing from the top and figured some vines must be close by. As she landed, she noted how eerily quiet it was. Not that spirits were particularly nosey, especially at night, but she'd think she'd hear some types of animals or even insects. Maybe the spirit energy was pushing some of the life away. She didn't think anything else of it and proceeded to look for some spirit vines.

She didn't walk far before she felt something, or someone, behind her. She took a deep breath before turning around to see Zaheer standing 10 feet from her. There was no particular emotion on his face, though he did look like he was deep in thought. His shackles were off, even around his waist, much to Korra's surprise. She had been hoping she could use the metal around it as leverage in their inevitable fight.

They stared at each other for a few minutes before the silence became unnerving to Korra. "We don't have to fight." She said.

"Yes, we do." Was all he said before a gust of wind blew Korra backwards, slamming her back against one of the larger tree trunks.

She rebounded quickly and bent three large chunks of Earth from the ground. A few spins and kicks sent the rocks hurling towards him.

He quickly shot into the air. She hurled more earth at him, which he dodged. He sent another gust of wind towards her, this time it slammed her back through the tree trunk and broke multiple smaller trees behind it. She landed on her back but quickly got up and used her fire bending to propel herself into the air.

The fight ensued for what felt like an hour. He wasn't taken any real hits but she found herself being flung around like a toy. It didn't stop her from the continuing the fight. She knew she could beat him if she could get some leverage on him.

Her wish was finally granted when she was able to hit from behind with some earth, followed by a blast of fire. He went down but he landed gracefully on his feet. She took the opportunity either way to encase his feet in rock to hold him in place. He growled, noticing his predicament.

She landed a few feet in front of him. "We don't have to fight. I don't want to hurt you."

"Aren't we passive." He said before throwing a punch that resulted in her being thrown backwards, despite her trying to use her air bending to stop it. She landed against another tree but this time her head had slammed against it a little too hard. Her vision had started to get blurry as she watched him break from his earth restraints somehow and walk towards her.

She tried to stand up but the immense pain in her head made it impossible and she ended up sliding back down the tree. Not to mention, something in her right arm must have been injured. It hurt to put any pressure on it. She cradled her arm as she watched the man that was now in front of her.

He took advantage of her helpless state to draw the air out of her lungs. He watched her gasp for breath, struggling to controlling the air around her but she knew his air bending was stronger than hers. She attempted to firebend at him but nothing but a small flame came from her fist. He frowned.

As her lungs were burning from the need of air, he noticed her eyes flickering between her normal eyes and her glowing eyes. She was about to reach the Avatar state. He didn't understand why she didn't go into the Avatar state in the first place. Frowning, he released any hold he had on the air around her and allowed her to fall over, gasping for air.

She was beyond confused on why he stopped his assault. After her coughing stopped and her breathing returned to normal, he offered her a hand to help her up. Naturally, she was wary of it but she took it anyway and allowed him to yank her up to her feet.

"Why didn't you go into the Avatar state?"

"I didn't need to." She said as she cradled her injured arm.

He said nothing, only turning around with the intentions of flying off but she quickly stopped him with a question.

"I thought you were here to kill me?"

"I can't." Were the last words he said before flying off, leaving Korra in a dazed and confused state.

* * *

Pema watched as her husband paced around their bedroom while she sat on the edge of the bed. It was nearly dawn and he found no sign of Korra anywhere. He received a telephone call that Zaheer returned himself to his prison. Did that mean he did something to Korra? He convinced himself that it wasn't so and tried to calm himself to think of his next plan of action.

"I don't understand. Where could she have gone?" He said to himself mostly.

"I'm sure she'll show up, honey." Pema tried to offer comforting words to her husband but it did no good.

"Maybe you're right. She is Korra after all." He sighed. "I should have kept Jinora here instead of letting her fly off with the other air benders. She'd be able to find her."

Pema patted a seat next to her on the bed, which Tenzin took. As soon as he sat down, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." He said.

The stress on his face was immediately washed away when he saw it was Korra sliding back the door.

"Korra!" He jumped up and embraced her. "Where have you been?"

"I'm fine, Tenzin. I'm sorry I didn't come back sooner. I needed to heal my arm." She waved her newly healed arm to show she was fine.

"I'm just so glad you're here. I've received word that Zaheer's back in prison."

"Yeah, I had a little run-in with him."

"And what happened?"

"I don't know, Tenzin. I honestly don't know."


End file.
